Jim Warren takes VENUE on tour with the Arcade Fire

Veteran FOH engineer Jim Warren (Radiohead, NIN, Peter Gabriel) toured this summer with the Arcade Fire, and the good folks at Pro Sound Web just published a wonderful interview that's certainly worth reading. A longtime VENUE user, Warren depends on the power and flexibility provided by a D-Show console and FOH and Stage racks to deliver "no compromise" mixes that would almost be impossible to produce using an analog system.

“VENUE is the first digital console I’ve used where I don’t need to use any outboard gear,” he says. “Everything I’ve done with this console I’ve been able to do with plug-ins. It keeps the workflow very focused [and] it keeps me from compromising,” he adds. “When you start getting into higher channel counts, you get to the point where you decide, ‘well, do I really want to carry a whole rack of compressors if I’m only going to use them on one or two songs?’ But with the VENUE, you’ve got them there when you need them, without adding any additional weight or complexity."

And working with a band like the Arcade Fire, who's setlist is "six feet long" and "never the same from one show to the next," Warren finds features like snapshot automation and Virtual Soundcheck to be indispensable tools, allowing him to "accomplish in ten minutes what might be a month’s worth of trial and error during a performance."

Many thanks to Jim Warren and Pro Sound Web for sharing his story with us. Check out the complete interview and read more about Warren's VENUE based workflow here.